コロナ緊急きんきゅう事態じたい宣言せんげんから5年ねん “かぜ”患者かんじゃ数すうの定点ていてん調査ちょうさ始はじまる

The pandemic of the novel coronavirus that spread worldwide

Its been five years since it started.

<br>In Japan, the first state of emergency was declared in seven prefectures including the metropolitan area, Osaka, and Fukuoka on April 7, five years ago, severely impacting peoples health and lives.

And now, experts are warning that another pandemic caused by an unknown virus could happen again at any time.

Are we prepared for the next pandemic? Having experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, what lessons have we learned, and are we able to apply them? On the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, under the theme Next Pandemic, we will examine the COVID-19 crisis and consider preparations for new threats.

<br>5 years since the COVID-19 state of emergency was declared <br>The novel coronavirus was first confirmed in Japan on January 15, 2020, and gradually spread, causing strain on the healthcare system in some regions.

<br><br>In response to this, a state of emergency was declared on April 7th for seven prefectures including Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, and was later expanded to cover all prefectures.

In the governments basic response policy, people were urged to avoid the three Cs of closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings, and strong requests were made to refrain from going out. Remote work and online classes became widespread, and measures such as shortening business hours for restaurants and other establishments were also implemented.

<br><br>While there is an assessment that the declaration led to the control of the epidemic, it also had a significant impact on social and economic activities, and the approach to infection control became a topic of discussion.

<br><br>Additionally, with each wave of the infection spread, issues such as the strain on hospital beds and the difficulty in emergency transport highlighted challenges in the medical system

Until the classification under the Infectious Diseases Control Law changed from equivalent to Category 2 to Category 5 in May the year before last, approximately 33.8 million people were infected with the novel coronavirus, and the cumulative number of deaths reached approximately 137,000 by October last year.

In preparation for a global outbreak of a new infectious disease, the country established the Cabinet Infectious Disease Crisis Management Agency two years ago as a command center for centralized infectious disease control.

<br><br>This month, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, which have been responsible for basic research on infectious diseases and the development of treatment methods, were integrated into the National Health Crisis Management Research Institute, with a clearly defined role of advising the government on infectious disease countermeasures based on scientific knowledge.

Based on the experience of the novel coronavirus, which had a serious impact on society, the challenge is how to prepare for the next pandemic.

<br><br>Start of Fixed Point Survey on Number of Patients with Cold Symptoms<br>A fixed point survey on the number of patients with so-called cold symptoms such as cough and sore throat will begin on the 7th

It is expected to identify the causative bacteria or viruses and lead to appropriate treatment, as well as to broadly understand the trends of patients with colds to detect the occurrence of unknown infectious diseases.

<br><br>The National Institute of Health Crisis Management will start a sentinel survey from the 7th at approximately 3,000 medical institutions nationwide for patients with symptoms such as cough, sore throat, and nasal congestion, classifying them as acute respiratory infections.

<br><br>Respiratory infections have been reported by pathogens such as influenza and the novel coronavirus, but now the number of cold patients who have not been tested or have tested negative will also be subject to reporting.

<br><br>In addition, some medical institutions among the fixed points are expected to send samples to local public health research institutes, etc., to analyze and identify pathogens, which can lead to more appropriate treatment.

<br><br>Additionally, considering that the novel coronavirus, which became a global pandemic, was initially reported as an unexplained respiratory infection, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare aims to detect the emergence of unknown infectious diseases by broadly monitoring the trends of cold patients and swiftly link it to countermeasures.

<br><br>Mine Masato, a director of the Japan Pediatric Association, said, There are quite a few patients with coughs and stuffy noses whose tests for influenza and the new coronavirus are negative, but the cause is unknown.

They say that if the trends and causes of the number of such patients can be understood through this study, it could be helpful for diagnosis and treatment.

<br>Shigeru Omi: A thorough review of the past is necessary<br>Shigeru Omi, who was involved in the response to the novel coronavirus as the chairman of the governments subcommittee, commented on the state of emergency declared five years ago, saying, It was a once-in-a-century crisis, and I dont think there was anyone who didnt have a hard time back then

Even among experts, there was consensus from the beginning to minimize the burden on the socio-economy, but when it came to concrete plans, there were opinions that emphasis should be placed on measures against severe cases, and opinions that infection should be suppressed to some extent, making it not an easy decision, he recalled.

<br><br>And regarding the series of new coronavirus measures, it was pointed out that a thorough review of the past is necessary, including what was good and what were the issues, involving not only politicians and bureaucrats but also experts, medical professionals, and the media.

<br><br>Regarding the response to future pandemics, it is necessary to implement strong measures like a state of emergency declaration in the early stages of an outbreak to alleviate the strain on healthcare, and such measures will likely continue to be required

To what extent it is implemented is also a matter of values, such as how much death and medical strain can be tolerated, requiring national discussion and the need to prepare a decision-making process.

We should start thinking about the way of two-way communication to understand each others values among various people with different positions in society, he said.

<br><br>Additionally, regarding international infection control, I think the United States has been the country that has supported international infectious disease control the most in the world, but currently, its efforts towards global health are weakening

Japan has a track record of advancing international cooperation in the field of infectious disease control, and it was expressed that Japan has a significant role to play, showing expectations for Japans leadership.